Sunil Mittal asserts Airtel has paid full AGR dues at about Rs 13,000 cr

A week before Supreme Court-mandated deadline for payment of past dues ends, Bharti Airtel chairman Sunil Mittal on Wednesday said that the company has paid Rs 13,000 crore to the government to clear all its dues as per its self-assessment.

The comment by Mittal, who also met Telecom Secretary Anshu Prakash on Wednesday, assumes significance asthe government, on March 4, had asked Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and other telecom companies to pay the remaining adjusted gross revenue (AGR) dues as per the Supreme Court order without further delay.

The telecom department had, at that time, written to all telcos asking them to pay balance dues "without delay" and submit detailed bifurcation of payments (explanation of self-assessed amounts), which it said were necessary for proper reconciliation of legitimate AGR dues.

Emerging from the meeting with Telecom Secretary, Mittal, to a specific question, said, "They had said pay full ... we have paid full dues."
On Airtel's payment being lesser than the government-calculated dues of Rs 35,000 crore, Mittal said, "There is no versus...They asked us to self-assess, we have self-assessed and paid."